It is becoming a yearly event, the Mariners complaining about hitting at Safeco Field. First it was the glare, and then it was the trees, and now the hitters' backdrop is enemy No. 1.

Yesterday, during his weekly radio show on KJR-AM, Jeff Nelson said Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez went to management asking them to close the roof for the opening few innings of games, when the hitting conditions are the worst. According to Nelson, management declined.

"There has to be something going on with this backdrop or whatever. This is going on one through nine," Nelson told Dave Mahler of KJR. "It has to be something, especially when it is the big hitters, Ichiro and Edgar, that are complaining about the backdrop and that they can't see. Sometimes it is a safety issue."

This is nothing new. In the first half-season at Safeco Field, I was standing in the dugout with Ken Griffey Jr. When the roof started to open, he promptly swore and turned to expose his backside to the roof. Going to management seems like a better approach.

The park is gorgeous and has made Seattle a baseball hotbed, but the hitting conditions are a problem. Mariners management has tried to take action many times. It planted and then removed trees, changed the paint and angle of the backdrop and altered game times.

For the homestand starting July 23, they will again repaint the backdrop in a 1 1/2-inch thick black honeycomb designed to absorb light.

The idea of closing the roof to improve hitting conditions has not been embraced. The Mariners hold to the policy that Safeco Field was designed as an outdoor ballpark and the roof is to be used only in cases of rain.

Maybe it is time for management to act on the players' grievance.

At Safeco, the Mariners are hitting .253 with a .380 slugging percentage. On the road, they are hitting .299 with a .474 slugging percentage. That is an astronomical difference.

It becomes more alarming when you discover Mariners opponents are not being negatively affected. At Safeco, opponents are hitting .241 with a .383 slugging percentage; at their home ballparks, they are hitting virtually the same -- .240 with a .381 slugging percentage.

Only one side is bothered by the hitting conditions at Safeco -- the hometown nine.

The discrepancy this season is outrageous, but it is not new. Last year, the Mariners hit 21 points higher on the road, while their opponents hit just eight points better outside of Safeco Field.

Whatever the reason, it is impossible to deny that Safeco Field has become a home-field disadvantage. While the environment psyches out Mariners hitters, their opponents seem to be unfazed.

Of the Mariners' 10 primary players (including both catchers, Dan Wilson and Ben Davis), only two are hitting better at Safeco than on the road. It is worth noting that both, John Olerud and Carlos Guillen, hit primarily from the left side of the plate. Not a single right-handed hitter has a better average at home than on the road.

It is not a small variance from home to road, either. Of the eight players who hit worse at Safeco, six are hitting 40 or more points worse at home and have slugging percentages that are 100 points lower at Safeco.

The most glaring, no pun intended, is what is happening to Martinez. This is also where the players' complaints gain the most validity. If the best pure hitter in the game is complaining, maybe it is time to listen.

At home, Martinez is hitting .239 with three homers in 117 at-bats. On the road, the great Edgar is hitting .362 with 12 home runs in 112 at-bats. His slugging percentage is 298 points higher on the road.

Safeco was built to be a pitcher's park. The Mariners have professed that the ballpark has allowed the pitchers to prosper. But that idea is debunked when you realize the pitchers are experiencing no more success at Safeco than they do on the road.

At Safeco this season, Seattle's team ERA is 3.68. It is a notch better on the road at 3.41. The pitching staff is great no matter the venue.

How can it be explained that the hitters struggle so mightily at home, but the pitchers receive no advantage?

Some will claim Mariners hitters have let the conditions affect their mental approach. They should be able to adapt to the conditions, critics say.

On the other hand, if Mariners hitters really can't see the ball, they will be more uncomfortable than players who are just in for a three-game stand. Hitting is all about timing. If you aren't certain you can pick up the flight of a 94-mph fastball, there is no way a hitter can dig in with confidence.

What once seemed like a selfish complaint from a few statistically obsessed players is gaining credibility.

What may be more important is that if Nelson is mentioning it on the radio, then it is being talked about in the clubhouse.

In a season that has been close to perfect thus far, it would be a shame for home sweet home to ruin it.